Connolly “jokes” about suppressing the Fairfax Republican vote

By VA Blogger

Ben at NLS breaks the story with this video about Connolly, with Sharon Bulova standing at his side (where else would she be?), rallying a crowd of Democrats by encouraging them to give Republicans the wrong date of the election.

What’s telling about this video, aside from how politically tone-deaf Boss Connolly is to this sort of thing, is how scared Connolly must be that he isn’t going to retain the seat by installing his puppet, Bulova. Why would he even need to joke about trying to suppress the Republican vote in blue Fairfax County if he wasn’t? Its been clear for a while that the Herrity campaign has been outworking Bulova on the ground, and there’s a lot more excitement for Herrity from Republicans than there is for Bulova from Democrats.

Comments

That’s exactly right. The Herrity Campaign has been outworking Bulova on all fronts. What is more impressive is that he has a plan to fix this huge hole the Connolly/Bulova regime put us in (650 million.)

What I found most interesting is him saying “Keep a Good thing going.” So, being half a BILLION in debt, having overcrowded schools and underpaid teachers, and huge traffic problems is a good thing? Well, boss Connolly…I cannot wait to see what you do in Washington.

Truth be told, he is a boob…and Sharon is not any better…they ran the county into the ground, and its time we get it back on track.

Funny how in 2008, even though McCain acknowledged mistakes the Bush administration had made, the Democrats labeled him as a 3rd Bush, and we need change because our country was so bad off. Now, with all the problems, Fairfax faces, Bulova is an extension of Connolly, and Connolly made this mess. So, its time for a change.

Vote Patrick Herrity on February 3rd…and vote for whoever the other guy is in November 2010 for 11th CD!

So, if Jack, er, Patty Boy Herrity has a great plan, why has he not implemented it? Oh yeah, because the BoS is 8-2 Democratic. But here’s a kicker – the Chairman doesn’t have any more power than any other Supervisor. So how is he going to get his plan implemented if he is elected Chairman? Best case scenario for Republicans is that Pat wins and they win the special election a few months down the road in Springfield. Then they’ll only be down 7-3 – and still won’t get anything accomplished. Why is that?

Pat is a newbie Supervisor and so far has shown to the rest of the board that he cannot work with others. If he doesn’t get his way in a debate on an issue – and a guy in the 8-2 minority is going to lose a lot more times than he wins – he walks out. Doesn’t stay for the rest of the meeting, doesn’t attend any more meetings on the subjects. Votes “no” when it comes up for final vote, then bitches that “I wasn’t heard”. Yeah, he was heard, and the vast majority disagreed with him.

So, how is this guy going to lead from a minority position? Introduce a bunch of stuff that then gets voted down 8-2/7-3?

So as Chairman, Herrity will be no more effective in Fairfax as he is now. And right now, he’s completely ineffective since he takes the “my way or the highway” approach. Which would work if the board were majority Republican, but doesn’t as a minority.

Compare Herrity to Mike Frey, who’s experienced and actually can get things accomplished as a minority member. Pat has a lot to learn about how to govern, the main part being that you should actually believe in government and the good it can do. If the Bush administration showed us anything constructive, its that if a bunch of people who think poorly of government are elected to run it, the run it poorly.

No, my point is, Herrity has accomplished nothing in the year and change he’s been on the board. He doesn’t participate in a lot of meetings, doesn’t bring ideas to the table. He has shown no leadership at all. Is there a compelling reason for him to be Chairman of a board he’s show he doesn’t want to sit down and work with?

Yeah, cause we’ve all seen how democrats work with others when they don’t have to.
I’m still pulling knives outta my back around Loudoun that were put there by people I had previously worked well with on THEIR ISSUES.

That’s ok, Sharon Bulova hasn’t accomplished anything in 20 years, oh except not preparing for the bad times during the good ones, and bankrupting our county with the biggest deficit BY FAR in the region. Sharon Bulova’s policy is to pretend there is no problem!

I’m assuming you have some sort of proof that Pat doesn’t attend meetings? According to his campaign, he’s attended every single one.

And I’m not exactly sure what’s the great harm about voting for something he believes in, even if it results in an 8-2 decision. That’s not exactly a “my way or the highway” mentality, that’s called standing on principle. Apparently, you’d like to see every measure pass by a 10-0 margin, and damn the opinions of people on the board.

As for effectiveness, Pat’s website offers many of his accomplishments, including a number of matters he introduced that were passed unanimously by the Board. I’m not sure if anyone’s let you in on the secret, but not every issue is a partisan issue. Items like putting the County checkbook online is just good government, and Pat Herrity introduced that measure, and the Boad unanimously passed it.

There are many changes Pat will bring that are just good, common sense ideas. There are many changes that Pat will have to fight and argue for, and he’ll lose some of those fights. But I don’t believe that’s a good reason, or a reason at all, to vote against him. If you don’t like his policies, sure. If you like the leadership that’s led us into a $650 million shortfall, absolutely vote for BUlova. But the fact that the Board of Supervisors may be shaken up a little bit— in my mind, that’s one of the *best* reasons for vote for Herrity. After the “leadership” of Connolly and Bulova, a little shaking up is exactly what this County needs.

My proof comes in discussions with several members of the Board of Supervisors. While Pat does do final votes, he tends to not be present for a lot of day to day meetings. He presents an idea, and if it’s not approved, he leaves the room. He was against rail to Dulles/Loudoun and promoted rapid-bus instead. When that idea was voted down – a lot less people would take a bus instead of Metrorail – he sued to try and stop the project from going forward. The issue with the Wyse County power plant – again, there was a lot of debate on that, most of which he abandoned because his original plan, which was to not oppose it at all since he believes one county shouldn’t impose on another. The board disagreed, but instead of sticking around and working on the final proposal, he went home and the next and last thing he said on the matter was to vote no on the final proposal.

I don’t have a problem with agitators – someone has to play devil’s advocate sometimes. But a county legislator – that’s what the position is – has to actual legislate. That means listening to all the other Supervisors, making his points of course but listening and participating in all steps of the process. He doesn’t do that.

The Chairman’s slot is in reality an at-large seat. It doesn’t have any more real power than the seat he has now, except for public perception. 1st among equals, but it’s not the county admin/exec slot a lot of people think it is. Personally, I think Republicans would be better off with Frey as the candidate, but Herrity has the family name which Republicans feel is highly important.

Now, what are my thoughts on the Bulova campaign? She’s not running a very good one. She’s a decent speaker, but her answers are, well, career-politician answers. I think she’ll make a good Chairman, and should win, maybe not a blowout, but will win.

FAIRFAX, VA – 1/22/09 – Barely into his third week as a Member of Congress, Democrat Gerry Connolly (D-VA 11) has begun a second job as a standup comic. Given his latest attempt to elicit a few laughs, he may want to stick to his day job.

“It’s really important we tell every Democrat we know this election is Tuesday, February 3, and we need to tell every Republican we know the election is Tuesday, February 10.” Connolly said at an appearance for Sharon Bulova, the Democrat running to replace Connolly as Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.

Not Larry Sabato, the liberal Virginia political blog, called his statement – and Bulova’s standing at his side — “appalling” and “shocking.”

“Yes, he was joking,” said Anthony Bedell, “But voter suppression really isn’t something you should use to try to get a laugh. I have a joke book he can borrow if he needs some better material.”

“And why is Supervisor Bulova is laughing? I am sure it is because now that she realizes she is in a race that it is a dead heat, maybe a little voter confusion might come in handy on election day,” added Bedell.

Bulova, the Braddock District supervisor, is opposed by Patrick Herrity, a Republican who represents Springfield District.

Well, it doesn’t quite rank up there with “Obama and Osama are both friends with people who planned 9/11″ and other such nuggets. It’s a fucking joke at a Democratic fundraiser. He didn’t print out flyers and distribute them in Republican-heavy precincts. It’s not an ad on a campaign flyer, it’s not a radio ad, it’s not a TV ad, it’s not a talking point. It was a lame joke – making fun of Republican efforts in parts of Tidewater this past election to pass out bad information in the hope that someone that read it would be stupid enough come vote.

Do I get that Republicans don’t like Democratic politicians? Yeah. Is there more to this than that?

In response to questions raised on another thread, how about Anthony Bedell for RPV Chairman? He seems to be able to make public statements without embarassing us (like the Frederick commentary alluded to above).

Was it a joke….yes. Was it in horrible taste….yes. Is Voter Suppression something that should be treated as a joke? No. If a Republican made the same joke, the Democrats and media (oops…same thing) would be up in arms for months.

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